“It’s not endure, you know,” I said and our eyes met. His brows drew forward in a slight frown of confusion and I clarified. “Earlier, you said I had to ‘endure’ your company, but that’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

I shook my head.

He stared at me and slowly his dark eyes with those amazing lashes softened while at the same time the air around us crackled.

The treacly music grew louder to the point of overwhelming, and I wasn’t in the mood to try to shout over it. Glancing around at everyone else, I didn’t recognize anyone in particular, but I felt a connection with the environment. Not the carousel, per se, but the Oklahomaness of it all. There was comfort to being back in surroundings I knew so well. Relief. Oklahoma and Connecticut were two very different states, two very different perspectives and ways of life, and while Chickasha wasn’t my hometown, it carried the same familiarity.

The distraction mixed with centrifugal force caused me to wobble.

Arthur’s grip on my wrist tightened.

I glanced back up to find him staring down at me, his eyes hooded. Then, keeping his gaze on mine, he relaxed his hold ever so slightly but only so his fingers slipped from my wrist to my hand, and our fingers laced together. My heart beat wildly in my chest.

We stayed that way for the rest of the ride.

Twenty

The pedestrian bridge was always the most popular spot in the lights festival. I didn’t know its full length, only that it was long and the white lights extended the whole way over the inky water where its illuminated reflection was captured in mirror-like clarity.

The narrow breadth only allowed for two lines of visitors, going in opposing directions, which caused many a traffic jam.

Standing back from the entrance, Arthur stared at the bridge, his face bathed by its canopy of lights, hands stuffed in the front pockets of his jacket. Both of them. Sadly.

Our hand-holding ended as soon as the carousel ride was over.

But by now, I was more confident there was some unspoken chemistry going on that, much like the bridge itself, went in two directions.

I nudged Arthur’s elbow with my own. “We can’t leave the lights festival without walking across the bridge.”

That seemed to pull him out of whatever it was that was dancing around in his mind.

We started forward.

There wasn’t a formal line, like with the carousel or Ferris wheel, so we merged in behind a middle-aged couple who were without kids; they were probably on a date.

I fleetingly wondered if they’d do what so many other couples did and take advantage of the shadows beyond the lights to make out. It was a time-honored tradition. Then I wondered if Arthur and I might do that and I felt a flush of heat go through my body.